Singaporeans show their hospitality

In Singapore, I was honored to work with superb clients. Thanks to Philip Tan of Professional Sales & Marketing, I spoke to 700 financial advisors for a very large insurance company. Philip exemplified customer service and follow through, making sure the client had what he needed while I was in India the two weeks before the presentation, with very limited access to the Internet.

Here are Philip and my colleague Shep Hyken at lunch when Shep was in S’pore from St. Louis to give a week of talks during my time there.

Delphine Ang of Partners Conference & Event Management not only sponsored a public workshop with me on telephone courtesy, but she arranged for a private program with a government agency. These folks came after work to a 3-hour program — talk about dedication! And Delphine is one of the most delightful people to work with. Delphine has asked me to offer the telephone courtesy public program again on April 14.

Shirley treated me to tea at the fabulous Fullerton Hotel, and gave me a personal tour of Chinatown as it was bedecked with its pre-Chinese New Year finery. She’s also invited me to repeat my “Calming Upset Customers” public program on April 10.

Bee Hui of Universal Network Intelligence asked me to facilitate a two-day seminar in Singapore on Effective Complaint Handling for 30 executives from China, India, Brunei, Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Knowing that many of these executives would have a wealth of experience, I encouraged them to share with each other. Which they did generously.

The course was designed around my sharing information on how I’ve created customer service and complaint handling improvements for my clients. But it included abundant time for them to swap ideas at their tables and with the larger group. The objective was to for them to walk away with implementable ideas and an execution plan. It didn’t matter if they got their ideas from me or a fellow participant. I just wanted them to walk out with some new ideas, as well as perhaps some validation on what they were doing right.

Spirited discussions ensued as some shared their issues and others offered solutions. Some brought reports of their complaint data and we analyzed it for root problems. The experience level was broad, but all seemed to have something to share.

I always relish the opportunity to spend time with top-notch professionals who are experts in their field, but are also willing to share best practices. So while I was the facilitator of the two days, I also walked away with lots of new information that I can apply to my clients’ projects.

I felt truly blessed to work with such fun, interesting, caring professionals and their clients, and look forward to seeing them again in April.